Cape Town – Testicular cancer, which is the most frequently-diagnosed cancer in males aged between 14 and 44, is on the rise among young men.
This is borne out by research indicating that the annual incidence of the disease among men in this age group had doubled over the past 40 years, according to Doctor Nico Lourens.
Based at the Urology Hospital in Pretoria, Lourens said that although it was on the rise, testicular cancer affected less than 10 men in 100 000, with a 2% risk of developing cancer in the other testis within 15 years of the initial diagnosis.
The survival rate for affected men is very high if diagnosed and treated early, said Lourens, who described testicular cancer as an abnormal growth or tumour in one or both testicles.
Warning signs of testicular cancer to look out for include a painless lump or swelling on either of the testicles, pain, discomfort or numbness in a testicle or scrotum, with or without swelling, or a change in the way a testicle feels, or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.
Males over the age of 14 should examine themselves monthly, and if a lump was detected should urgently see a urologist, Lourens said.
“There are multiple reasons that might be behind a testicular lump and, importantly, not all lumps are necessarily cancerous. Your urologist will do a clinical assessment, and an ultrasound is one of the tools we use to identify whether a lump is malignant or not.
“Often, cancerous lumps are not painful, which is why patients do not seek help at the outset. It is vital that the patient consult a urologist as soon as a lump is detected.”
Lourens said that research in Italy had found that treatment was so effective that 95% of patients recorded a five years disease-free survival rate.
He said that researchers added that genetic, environmental and hormonal risk factors played a role in testicular cancer’s development and risk of recurrence.
According to a urologist in Joburg, Dr Evangelos Apostoleris, testicles play a critical role in the male reproductive system, producing sperm and the hormone testosterone.
If one testicle had to be surgically removed it would not have much of an impact on the individual’s reproductive capability and sex life, Apostoleris said.
But in occasional cases where both testicles have had to be surgically removed it would have a greater impact on the patient’s life, preventing them from being able to reproduce, he said.
That is one reason why early detection of the disease is so important, because the quicker it can be treated the less damaging the impact would be and the better the ability to preserve the affected individual’s quality of life, Apostoleris said.